USAID contributes $ 750,000 to UNICEF to help provide clean water to people in Basra

“This contribution will help us bring clean water to some of the most at risk communities in Basra” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF’s Representative in Iraq “and will help UNICEF ensure that 750,000 people will get safe drinking water at this critical time and a further 50,000 children will have access to clean water when they go back to school.”

The latest funds from USAID will build on UNICEF’s water and sanitation work in the areas most affected, including its collaboration with the government of Iraq to help increase the output of R Zero, which will provide much needed relief to the residents.

Increasing water scarcity in southern Iraq has led to low river water levels, reduced water flow and an extended saline tongue up the Shatt Al Arab river, which is exacerbated by pollutants that have contaminated Basra’s main source of drinking water. This had led to a sharp increase in gastric intestinal illnesses.

The US government’s contributions to UNICEF in Iraq totaled $95,542,000 million between 2017 and 2018. The funds have supported lifesaving activities such as water and sanitation, child protection, and safeguarding vulnerable IDPs from the effects of winter.